Dutch Naval loss in 1704

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duo-divers
Ships Boy
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:43 am

Dutch Naval loss in 1704

Post by duo-divers »

Here is hoping that someone can shed a little light!

This loss was on the Farne Islands, other names of this deadly grouping of rocks/islands include Fearn and Scares and various phonetic spellings, there may also be references to Bamburgh Castle as the big local landmark.

I am quoting directly from a contemporaneous account:-

I was determined to take a view of the guns of a Dutch ship of war, lost in the year 1704, and as they lay two or three miles nearer the land

This is taken from a log written by Charles Spalding who was trying to recover some cargo from a vessel Peggy which was lost in 1774, so whilst the 'dutch' loss may not have been in living memory it certainly wasn't a myth.

Now before I am inundated with guys and gals saying ahhhhh its the vessel lost on Gun-rock, well sorry wrong place! The location alluded too would be on the Inner Farnes, also there would be a discussion re timing of the loss, myth says 'Spanish Armada', facts would indicate later but as we all know any 'old vessel' is a loss from the Armada isn't it?

As an aside the gun-rock vessel 'story' is that it was a vessel which wasn't in the Armada but rather there selling armaments and supplies, I suppose that this is a nod to the amount of sword handles and scabbards that have been recovered over the years and the 'crust' of cannon balls over the wreck.

So in summary, a Dutch naval vessel lost in 1704 (or thereabouts) off the Northumbrian coast, any ideas?

Cheers

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Navclio
Captain
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Re: Dutch Naval loss in 1704

Post by Navclio »

The logical place to find it if it really was a Dutch navy warship, would be

James Bender, Dutch Warships in the Age of Sail, 1600-1714: Design, Construction, Careers, and Fates (Barnsley, S. Yorks.: Seaforth Publishing, 2014).

I don't have a copy, so I can't look it up myself.
Cy
Admiral of the Fleet
Posts: 151
Joined: Tue May 23, 2017 1:10 pm

Re: Dutch Naval loss in 1704

Post by Cy »

I do have a copy of Bender and all the data is already transcribed onto Three Decks, although the data he includes in his book is far from complete. I have no record of any Dutch warships recorded as wrecked in 1704, never mind near holy island.
OK, it was me, probably!
duo-divers
Ships Boy
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2018 9:43 am

Re: Dutch Naval loss in 1704

Post by duo-divers »

Many thanks, I shall grub through the document you mention to see if there are any clues.

I guess that you have to remember that here at the Farnes we are not so far from Hartlepool where the locals mistook a monkey for a Frenchman and hanged him....... :lol:
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